Five universities in the mainland and one in Hong Kong have started using a super-quick computer grid technology to provide students and academics with better access to education and computing resources.
The China Education and Research Grid, capable of 15 trillion calculations per second, connects institutions via a centralised hub where data stored on computing systems at different universities is made available when and where needed, according to a joint announcement this week by IBM and China's Ministry of Education.
'The China grid will simplify how students and researchers access education and computing resources across China,' said George Wang, director of the Beijing-based IBM China Software Development Laboratory.
The $18.1 million system works using a web-based technology developed by IBM called WebSphere.
The software is powerful enough to organise the entire computational and informational resources within the Chinese higher educational system under one virtual roof, according to an IBM spokeswoman.
Tan Ching-jen, director of the E-business Technology Institute at the University of Hong Kong, one of the universities participating in the project, said the China grid would speed up the research capabilities among Chinese universities and strengthen the co-operation between Hong Kong and mainland institutions.